Symmetry
by NeonNavy
Summary: Aria and Ezra's relationship is strong but Jackie threatens it, with Jason causing temptation on Aria's part and Jackie causing temptation for Ezra will they're relationship last or will temptation take over?
1. Promises

Aria walked out of Ezra's apartment, where she stayed last night. Aria's and Ezra's relationship was going great, until Jason DiLaurentis had told Aria about feelings towards her. Right now she was torn between the man she couldn't love, whom she could have a public relationship with or the man who made her shine with self-confidence but, could not have a public relationship with.

She loved Ezra, but deep in her heart she was fighting her desire for Jason. Her phone buzzed, she picked it up.

_Meet me at Instincts in 5 _

_-Jason_

Aria called her mother, making sure she wasn't overly worried about her not being home last night.

"Hello?" Aria said into the receiver.

"Aria, where were you last night?" Ella's worried parent tone coming clear through the phone.

"I was just at Spencer's house, we played board games and watched movies like old times…" Aria said, lying to her was almost becoming second nature when it came to her parents.

"Okay, well come home soon!" Ella said just before hanging up the phone. Aria Checked her watch, it was 11:34am, she was having lunch with Jason, it wasn't a date, it was just a way to clear everything up and to start anew, as friends.

Aria walked into Instinct's (a new sandwich place in downtown Rosewood) Jason was already sitting at a table near the window, she waved. Aria sat down at the table.

"Hey" Aria said, starting the conversation.

"Hi, I just wanted to say sorry for overwhelming you two nights ago, I shouldn't have done that." Jason said.

"But?" Aria said, knowing something was coming.

"But, I want you to know that I still and will always care about you, I know you're not available right now but I hope one day we could be something more than friends or whatever we are right now." Jason poured his heart filled with all the emotion to Aria, a girl he cared about.

Aria didn't know what to say about that, this gorgeous man just spilled his guts and she was speechless.

"Please, just say something…" Jason was pleading, his eyes filled with rejection and the feeling it was coming at a harder pace straight for his heart.

"I don't know what to say, thank you for being honest, I would be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for you, I do, and I don't know how to cope with them right now." Aria said in utter cluelessness.

"Say you'll be with me" Jason said reaching for her hand which was firmly placed on the table.

"I love Ezra… I think the best option for us would be to be friends." Aria said suddenly stiffening up, Jason pulled his hand back, Rejection washed through him like an ocean hitting him all at once. Hearing his name _Ezra_ made him livid, if only he'd have tried harder for Aria.

"But, I love you." Jason said, in full awareness that this could ultimately destroy him because she was only one who had enough of him to break his heart.

"Listen, I think we should be friends right now… to get to know each other on more of a friend basis" Aria suggested.

"I guess, I'll try, will I ever get the chance to meet this incredibly lucky guy?" Jason said, trying to keep his cool, one step farther and he could snap.

"Sometime, I'm not sure it'll be soon though." Aria said, she had feelings for this amazing guy, even if her friends didn't see it, he was really nice.

"I understand. listen, I've got to go pick up some boxes to clean up some of Ali's stuff, maybe you'd like to have some of it?" Jason said, changing the topic.

"Umm… Sure, when?" Aria asked, accepting the subject change with open arms.

"I'll call you" Jason says.

Aria put her number down in Jason's phone, "It was nice talking to you Jason" Aria says as she stood up, Jason stood up, picking up his jacket from behind his chair. Aria hugged him and kissed him on his cheek before she left the sandwich shop. Jason left one minute later, walking with complete contentment that Aria had hugged him.

/:/

Spencer and Emily sat in Spencer's garden, catching some rays.

"This whole A thing has gotten out of hand. I hate how A can be so manipulative. The way A got the secret out that you were well…. Anyway… are things still off with you and Samara?" Spencer said.

"Afraid so, I mean, I can't believe that A made me do that, I was happy for once in my life and A had to go and ruin it." Emily sounded hurt, like she was going to burst in tears at any moment.

"But Em—" Spencer said, only to be cut off by Emily.

"How am I the weakest link? Just because I am gay or because I am literally weaker?" Emily said truly angry now.

"Em, Calm down… we all hate A, you're not going through this alone" Spencer sat up and hugged Emily, letting her know that it was going to be all right.

They tried to forget about A for the rest of the afternoon. They spent their time gossiping and watching old movies.

/:/

Aria walked home, just before she got to her door Jackie suddenly appeared outside her door.

"Hello Aria" Jackie said, smirking.

"Hi… What are you doing here?" Aria asked.

"Just here to talk to you, about Ezra" Jackie said completely serious.

"Okay," Aria said, suddenly cautious.

"I made a mistake when I ended out engagement, I was young and stupid and I didn't know what I wanted. Right now I do, I have the job, the apartment but now all I need is the man. Whether you like it or not, Ezra will always see you as a kid. I am the only one who truly understands him, now I've come back to get what was originally mine. The relationship between you and Ezra won't work out. Leave him alone, he's mine." Jackie said, she smiled and walked away as if she had just been told she won fifty million dollars. _That Bitch_ Aria thought. She walked into her house and flopped on her bed.

_Looks like Ezra and Jackie are getting they're happy ending, too bad your just the ugly witch in they're way. Or should I say Bitch instead?_

_-A_

Aria sat up and wiped the tears away and looked out the window looking for any signs of A, a black car suddenly sped away, tinted windows made it impossible to see inside.

/:/

Jason bought large cardboard boxes and brought them home, first he went into his new dark room for his pictures. The clothespins all held up pictures of "The group of five" as Jason like to call it. His eyes immediately caught on Aria in her hands were roses, red to be exact. He looked in the background of the picture and saw himself in his old regular stoned stage. Jason smiled at how he could've been so blind to the fact that he didn't need drugs to keep him sane, he needed Aria.

/:/

Aria decided she would call Ezra, to see if Jackie had gotten to him.

"This is Ezra, please leave a message, unless this is Hardy. Beep!" Aria loved the sound of his velvety voice.

"Hey Ezra, I was just calling to see if you were free tomorrow…I was looking through a brochure and there's a reading of your favourite book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is being read at the community centre. Just wanted to know if you'd like to come. Bye, by the way this is Aria," Aria felt like such an idiot whenever she talked to him, it was like he stole her ability to speak.

Aria gave up trying for the night and fell asleep.

/:/

Aria woke up, she got dressed and walked over to Ezra's, she knew she was being paranoid but with Jackie's confrontation she couldn't take any chances with letting Ezra go.

She got to his apartment and picked up the key underneath the place mat and opened the door.

"Hello? Ezra?" Aria called out.

"Aria? Is that you?" Ezra said. He walked out of the kitchen and gave her a hug.

"Can we talk?" Aria said, suddenly serious.

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?" Ezra said, leading her to the couch.

"Since Jackie has come back I've had these dreams about you and her together and I've been scared that I might lose you, I love you, and you know that, I just , I don't want to lose you." Aria said, not looking in his eyes.

"Aria, I love you too, I just I thought we were over this jealousy phase, nothing is happening between me and Jackie, even though I was engaged to her before doesn't mean I feel the same way about her now, you are in my life and I want you to be in it for a long long time… that's why…. Where is it?" Ezra stood up, looking around until he pulled out a blue velvet box from a drawer.

"Oh my Gosh! This isn't what I think it is?" Aria was shocked. Was he proposing?

"It's a promise ring, so you'll be mine, hopefully, eventually, this'll be replaced with an engagement ring, I want you to be mine and only mine" Ezra said, completely sincere. Aria's eyes teared up as he opened the blue box to reveal a silver band with a jade crystal in the middle. Ezra chose this ring because it represented Aria in every facet and shade of green. The whole ring together was a unique combination, which brought out Aria's quirky and different personality. The shine of the silver represented her shining confidence and self-esteem.

"It's gorgeous, I love the color combination" Aria squealed with excitement, she kissed Ezra, he deepened the kiss. She ran her hands through his hair. She leaned back so they she was lying on the couch, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. That night they lay in Ezra's bed, they slept softly in each other's arms.

They woke up, Ezra cooked Aria pancakes. He loved the sight of her sleeping with his ring on. She was going to be his.

_Ding dong!_

Ezra opened the door. Who could it be?

"Hello Ezra"

"Hi" Ezra couldn't believe who was at his door.

Jackie.

-;-;-;

Hey guys!

I was on a bit of a hiatus but im back!

Mwah my neonites

Kat


	2. Found

Hey!

I have tried to do something different and I wrote this chapter to the song "You Found Me" by The Fray.

Could you be my guinea pig for this chapter and listen to the song while reading the story?

Greatly Appreciated :P

Kat

/:/

Aria waited politely behind Ezra, she stared at Jackie with complete hatred. After a few seconds of silence Aria knew that to show her trust of Ezra and to trust her intuition she would leave Jackie and Ezra to talk. She quickly threw her clothes on and said a quick good-bye to Ezra, not pausing to say anything to Jackie.

Aria walked home, as she turned the key to her house she could hear the dull cry of her parents yelling, she walked into the foyer and was greeted by her parents arguing about the current decomposition of the family status, Ella was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the return of Meredith in Byron's class at Hollis.

Luckily, for Aria she walked right into the middle of it.

"Aria, I know we already wen through this but did you know anything about Meredith rejoining Byron's class again? Please tell me the truth, or so help me god I will leave once more!" Ella said, when Aria looked around she could see that Mike was also dragged into this.

Before Aria could answer Byron re-started the argument all over again.

"Oh, right…I seem to remember someone running away from their problems… Oh right! That was you!"

"Byron. You take that back, we are talking about you now, and why am I still standing here? When I should be running away, this time Byron, its our problem you seem to be running from." Ella spat back at Byron, not stopping to take a breath at any point of her ever-menacing speech.

"You know what Ella? Maybe I allowed Meredith to rejoin my class, maybe I like her company, it sure is at least one-hundred times better than yours" Byron shot daggers with his eyes towards Ella. The tension could be cut through with a knife.

Aria quickly ducked away, hot tears flooding her eyes. She opened the front door and quietly closed it, she ran down the street not being able to see more than a coupe meters in front of her due to the tears that still stung. All at once it felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders she tripped over a skipping rope that had been left outside, her tears started freely flowing down her face. She stared at the cold, hard pavement wondering how easy it would be to just disappear for a while and forget all of this.

"Aria?" she heard a male voice cry out to her.

"Aria?" Aria quickly recognized the voice to be Jason's. she was enveloped by a pair of strong arms. Once they successfully were wrapped around her waist Aria immediately felt safe.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked as soon as he could see her face, tears had stained her once dry face. He hugged her as they stood on the pavement just a mere couple of meters away from the DiLaurentis walk-way.

"I-I… No" Aria burst out in a new fit of tears.

"Shh… it's okay Aria, I'm here" Jason tightened his grasp around Aria. He noticed a splotch of redness stained into the pavement. He loosened his grip on Aria, he looked down at her knee.

"Geez Aria, your bleeding! How hard did you fall?" Jason asked suddenly alert and cautious.

Aria didn't answer his question and remained sobbing. Jason led her into the house.

Jason sat Aria down on the couch he quickly ran to get her a Band-Aid for her knee.

"Any better?" Jason asked as he finished putting the Band-Aid on her.

"Much, thank you… " Aria said as she examined her knee.

"If you don't mind asking, why were you running?" Jason asked, suddenly curious.

"Long story, my parents were in another fight, I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran, and when I stopped it all started catching up with me, so I ran faster the faster I ran the faster the tears developed I tripped on something and you found me." Aria looked into Jason's eyes. His eyes were clouded with mystery, Aria found it intriguing, she slowly started moving closer towards Jason's face, but quickly turned away.

"Aria, I'm sorry, if there's anything I could do to hel-" Jason started but was interrupted by Aria.

"You've helped enough Jason" Aria suddenly snapped at Jason, she wasn't referring to her parent's relationship but her and Ezra's.

In theory he had driven a wedge between them. Whenever Aria was around Ezra all she could think about was the kiss that Jason and she had shared.

"I'm sorry, it's just been a long day" Aria replied. Suddenly shocked at what she had said, she had not meant to crack, and not in front of Jason.

"I can tell, we all have bad days, I was just going to say that it's not your fault, and if you ever need someone to help you through this just call me, I went through the same thing as you, when Spencer's dad cheated on my dad with my mom it put a big strain on their marriage, I blamed it on myself, that's why I started doing drugs."

Aria realized that she had gotten so used to Ezra's good guy demeanor, having never done anything risky, whereas Jason's honesty and less-than desirable past had gotten Aria all wired up on the freshness of his personality on her relatively routine love-life.

Aria glanced at Jason's lips and was immediately dragged into them, before she knew it she was staring at them. Jason cleared his throat, Aria snapped out of it.

"I should go, it's getting dark out" Aria said, standing up, she looked at her phone

_No New Messages_

Aria sighed with relief but then looked at the clock and gasped, she had been sitting there and talking with Jason for longer than she had expected.

"What's wrong?" Jason said. Grasping onto Aria's arm.

Jason could not bear to think of anything hurting Aria, when he had seen Aria fall his heart clenched and he swore he was having a heart attack, he had to get to her, at any great cost. He assumed she was still with her boyfriend, and he was in no mood for games, all that he could think about when he was talking to Aria on the couch was how much he would do to be able to call Aria his girlfriend, whenever he was alone all his mind thought about was Aria, he would do anything for her go to any lengths just for her approval. If there was even a slight chance that she felt the same way about him he would never let her go, if she were to suddenly change her mind about him and decided she wanted to be with him he would waste no time to get some kind of ring on her finger, he would risk his life for this petite brunette who had captured his heart, he never thought he could love again or lay his heart on the line after what had happened to his past relationships, but every time Aria would surprise him.

Jason wanted nothing more than to make her happy, but if she was happier with her boyfriend now he would accept that but show no sign of damage. Her happiness was the key to his happiness but her love would make him feel invincible.

"Nothing, its just a bit later than I thought it was" Aria replied, Jason released his grip slightly. Aria started walking to the door, once she was past the threshold she turned around to meet Jason who was closer to her than she anticipated.

Seconds later she felt his soft lips on hers, soon Aria started to follow suit, she couldn't stop herself, she tried to pull away but eventually she succumbed and Jason and Aria's mouths were moving in synchronization. Jason broke the kiss, Aria opened her eyes, she was surprised to meet Jason's and a tinge of rejection clouded his features.

"I'm sorry, Aria, I didn't mean to, it just felt right" Jason said, looking down at the ground in front of him.

Aria turned away from him and ran away, she was running not because she didn't like the kiss, she wasn't running because she didn't feel the same for him. Lost, and Insecure he found her, and accepted her for all her quirkiness. She was running away from him because she was doing the same thing her mother did, she ran from her problems to avoid dealing with them.

Aria was running away from her feelings for Jason.

/:/

Did you like the feel that the song gave to the story? I was listening to the song while I was writing it, I felt like Aria and Jason are the two people that are meant to find each other.

Reviews appreciated

Tell me if the music worked with it… Promise?

-Kat


End file.
